On Sunday, we made a train trip with Grandma (aka “Baba”) to the Drumlin Farm Fall Festival just West of here in Lincoln, MA. Prior to going to the farm, H insisted that there would be “Horses and cows and sheep and turtles and crabs closing their eyes under the water.” Perhaps she was unduly influenced by our trip to the aquarium in Woods Hole…to our surprise there did indeed turn out to be turtles at the farm (as part of a wildlife show), but alas, no crabs.

The chickens were a big hit, as were the sheep and the hayride. We’ll likely be making the trip to Lincoln again, as it is easier to get to by transit than either of the two small zoos in the Boston area: Franklin park (long walk or bus from the orange line, takes at least 1 1/2 hours to get there from Cambridge) or Stone Zoo (lovely and fairly close, but inaccessible by transit).Drumlin Farm is about a 15 minute walk from Lincoln Station on the Fitchburg commuter rail line that runs through Porter Square (the ride from Porter was about 30 minutes). Walking directions are here. We found the walk pleasant, except for the last block where there was no sidewalk, and we needed to walk through a field of long wet grass…but I suppose the point was to get out into nature so us city-folks shouldn’t complain too much…

8 Responses to Train trip to Drumlin Farm

I read your blog often but rarely comment, but I just had to add that we recently made this same trip. The kids were begging to ride the commuter rail, so we took the bus to Belmont Center and hopped on there. The only downside was that I couldn’t do the walk at the other end without my double stroller, which was a little tricky to get on the train, but it was still doable. I’ve heard Codman Farm is nice as well and is closer to the commuter rail stop.

Katie–What did you do with the double stroller once the path ended (where you make the left to get to the main entrance)? We ended up getting H out to walk in the grass, but that might be harder with more than one…

I pushed the stroller on the grass on the way there, which was a total pain, so then I walked in the street (very quickly) on the way back. I’ve heard Codman has lots of great animals and is very fun, but we’re members at Drumlin so I always feel like I should use that membership.

I was surprised how inaccessible the commuter rail is to strollers. My kids can both walk, so it was easy enough to put them on the train and then carry the stroller up, but it would have been tough if one of them were younger. There are also stairs at the Belmont station, which again required them to get out of the stroller.

We also pushed our stroller on the road on the way back (with Dorea walking in front and moving over to the side if a car came). It seems like it would be an easy place to put a sidewalk since the shoulder is fairly wide (but I don’t think people feel as obsessive about sidewalks out in the suburbs).

Hey you two, it’s Alexis. My friends took me to Drumlin Farm last summer before I moved south, and I loved it! And yes, we were three adults really excited about petting goats – they’re the best. If you go during strawberry season you can also pick strawberries, which might be good fun next year.

Codman Farm has some animals that you can look at, and they have local meat and eggs for sale in the white barn (honor system for payment), and they offer community gardening. Animal-wise, there are chickens, turkeys, cows, donkeys, pigs, goats, and sheep. But as a visitor, you are very much on your own. They ask that you pay a small fee and that you don’t touch any animals. It’s not set up to be a learning environment — it appears to be a working farm. I have stopped by on random weekday afternoons and rarely see anyone working there.

hello – I just found your blog when looking for child seats for the xtracycle – anyway, just wanted to let you know that the 132 bus stops fairly near the Stone Zoo – maybe a 15-20 minute walk. Perhaps it is too much of a hassle for you to get to the orange line, but it isn’t completely inaccessible to public transit. It’s a nice walk around part of Spot Pond.

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We're the Vierling-Claassens: Angela, Nathan, H (born 6/06), and R (born 5/09). We live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and rely on bikes, public transit and our feet for transportation. We've been writing here about our carfree lifestyle since 2008.